Archetypes In The Movie 'The Princess Bride'

The Princess Bride is a cliche love story movie about two lovers and their tale that tells how they became separated and found each other again. It tells this story using archetypes all throughout the movie. One of the most important of the archetypes being the magic weapon. Overcoming obstacles and and achieving goals becomes much easier with the help of a magic weapon.

In The Princess Bride, the archetype of the magic weapon takes form metaphorically to aid Westley in his rescue of Buttercup. For example, Westley knew how to avoid the dangers of the Fire Swamp and could fight off giant rats. This scene takes place after Westley realizes that Buttercup still loves him and he reveals himself to her, together, they then make their escape

through the dreaded “Fire Swamp.” With the power of true love and dedication to continuing his life with Buttercup, Westley braves the Fire Swamp and guides himself and Buttercup through to safety, after saving Buttercup’s life on a multitude of occasions. Another example of the metaphorical magic weapon of love is the plan to get into the castle that Westley devised while just being revived from the dead. This happens shortly after Westley takes Miracle Max’s Magic Pill and is brought back from being “mostly dead” (The Princess Bride, n.p.), which makes his willingness and motivation to make it to Buttercup that much more impressive. Applied to real life, the story’s use of a magic weapon tells us that with a strong enough love for someone or something and the right dedication, anything is possible.
Furthermore, in The Princess Bride, the archetype of the magic weapon takes form physically as self-alteration to achieve goals. For instance, Westley is brought back to life with the use of a magic weapon in the form of a magic pill provided by Miracle Max (The Princess Bride, n.p.). Without the magic pill from Miracle Max, Westley would have stayed dead and would not have been able to save Buttercup from marrying Prince Humperdink. The idea of self-alteration means doing something to change yourself for the better in terms of your personal goal. It is an important aspect because sometimes even the strongest love and dedication may not be enough, in turn calling for an actual “magical weapon.” Another example of this within the film is that Westley trained his body to be immune to the poison he used to kill Vizzini. If he were not to do this, getting past Vizzini would have been a lot more challenging, but since Westley took the extra step and changed himself, he defeated Vizzini with ease.
Finally, in The Princess Bride, the archetype of the magic weapon also shows up as something to alter others in order to help achieve one’s own goal. For example, Inigo Montoya using his father’s sword to kill the man who killed his father (The Princess Bride, n.p.). In the battle between Inigo Montoya and the 6-fingered man who killed Inigo’s father, Inigo gets very wounded and begins to stumble, but as he repeats his famous phrase, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die,” his will to kill this man and his father’s spirit imbued into his sword causes him to gain random bursts of strength, and in the end it was enough to defeat his father’s murderer. This all goes to show that in some cases, to fully achieve your goals, you must use a magic weapon to alter others, whether it is altering their emotions, their personality, their point of view, or in very extreme cases like Inigo Montoya’s, killing them.
Thus the meaning of this archetype ultimately teaches us that obtaining our goals is a lot less difficult if we can get an edge on life by utilizing a magic weapon, no matter what it is.